Health Encyclopedia

Rehabilitation for Stroke

What is stroke rehabilitation?

Stroke rehabilitation or "rehab" helps you regain as much independence and quality of life as possible. Rehab can help you physically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually after stroke. It helps restore you to optimal health, functioning, and well-being. Rehabilitate comes from the Latin "habilitas" which means "to make able again."

The stroke rehab team

The stroke rehab team revolves around the patient and family. The team helps set short- and long-term treatment goals for recovery and is made up of many skilled professionals, including:

Doctors, such as a neurologist (a doctor who treats conditions of the nervous system such as stroke), a physiatrist (a doctor who specializes in physical medicine and rehabilitation) and internists

Rehab nurses

Rehab specialists

Physical therapists

Occupational therapists

Speech and language pathologists

Registered dietitians

Social workers and chaplains

Psychologists, neuropsychologists, and psychiatrists

Case managers

The stroke rehab program

The outlook for people who have had a stroke today is more hopeful than ever due to advances in both stroke treatment and rehabilitation. Stroke rehab works best when the patient, family, and rehab staff works together as a team. Family members must learn about physical and mental changes caused by the stroke and how to help the patient become functional again.

Rehab medicine is designed to meet each person's specific needs. So, each program is different. Some general treatment components for stroke rehab programs include:

Treating the basic disease and preventing complications

Treating the disability and improving function

Providing adaptive tools and altering the environment

Teaching the patient and family and helping them adapt to lifestyle changes

There are 5 main types of disabilities that stroke can cause:

Paralysis or problems controlling movement, such as walking, balance, or swallowing

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